In Nomine Patris
by Sapphire Ox
Summary: "I'm a monster?" Zarc shakes his head, pointing a clawed finger at the once proud professor. "Oh no, Akaba Leo. If anyone here is a monster, it's YOU." Leo comes face to face with Zarc. Oneshot. [spoilers for ep 135/136]


_A/N: A little idea I've had for a while, especially after the intensity of the latest episode._

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 _And shepherds we shall be, for thee my lord for thee._

 _Power hath descended forth from thy hand, our feet may swiftly carry out thy command._

 _So we shall flow a river forth to thee and teeming with souls shall it ever be._

 _In Nomine Patris, et Filli, et Spiritus Sancti._

- **The Boondock Saints**

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"Well, well, well. We meet again," the familiar voice comments. His tone is amused, arrogant, the distortion of it unearthly and unnerving.

It awakens a long lost sense of dread deep in Leo- one he not felt in years, one that he experienced only once in a world that is no longer.

Actually, he's incorrect. This _is_ that world. But Arc Five is not what Leo hoped it to be; it is not the metropolitan paradise its original reality once was, nor is it the new dimension where he thought they could start again. Not now, it isn't.

"I must admit, I was wondering how long this was going to take. A bit of a hassle, but the patience paid off so so well in the end."

No, this dimension is Hell on Earth.

And he is face to face with the Devil.

Zarc's cold yellow eyes stare right into his soul as he stalks towards him, his body all bulging muscle and sharp scales and large black wings that look like his own shadow has grown a body of its own. There is something very wrong with the way they look at him with Yuya Sakaki's hair partially shielding them, the way his ridiculous goggles clash horrifically with his gargoyle-like body. He must see the fear on Leo's face, and Zarc gives him a bone-chilling smile that is anything but kind.

Where is Ray? The dimensions are fused, Ray should be here. Her and the cards that sealed Zarc away. Where could they be?

Leo knows he should move, fight back, run away, something, but he is frozen in panic, leaning back on his palms, his duel disk shattered, his cards scattered along with the debris of the city.

This should not be happening. Zarc should not be alive- _Ray_ should be alive, alive and well and happy in Arc Five, the way everything used to be, the way they should be. Not like this- screams echoing throughout the destroyed cities as the smell of smoke, blood, and sweat hang heavily in the air, duel monsters flying through the air as they hunt, hungry for innocent flesh and hellbent on discord.

"You...you shouldn't be here," Leo stammers. His mouth feels like sandpaper.

Zarc tilts his head curiously, the same sickening grin on his face showcasing the rows of sharp teeth that line his gums.

"Ho? And why is that?" he asks. His tone is mocking, "Because I don't belong in your 'perfect' world?"

This is wrong, all wrong. His daughter should be standing in front of Leo right now, not this monster, this...this creature of the damned.

"And just what were you going to do to get rid me?" Zarc continues, "Kill me? Turn me into a card? Put a bug in my ear and make me your obedient little servant?"

Leo shakes his head. He can't look at Zarc, at those soulless golden eyes. He stares ahead at the ruins behind him. There's a giant lump in his throat, and swallowing nearly feels like choking. His hands are shaking.

He just wanted to make things right again- put the dimensions back together like they should be. He just wanted his daughter back. He feels Zarc's gaze on him- it's searing, as if someone is melting him alive.

"M-m-monster," Leo says, his volume barely more than a whisper.

Zarc stops, the smile gone from his face. His expression is a quizzical one, a hand to his chest as a gesture of self reference. He gives Leo an incredulous look.

"What did you just say?"

"Y-you shouldn't...y-you weren't s-supposed...you're...y-y-y-you're a monster," Leo stutters, trying to find the words; he doesn't know if he's talking more to Zarc or himself. How could everything go so wrong? He was so careful, this isn't how things were supposed to go.

He feels a cold tingle run down his spine as Zarc chuckles.

" _I'm_ a monster?" Zarc shakes his head, pointing a clawed finger at the once proud professor. "Oh, no, Akaba Leo. If anyone here is a monster, it's _you_."

Leo's head snaps up. Whether it is from the statement itself or the fact that Zarc- Zarc, who once impaled his opponent during a duel, who gladly near killed duelists to the hospital in the name of 'his fans', who fused himself to his own monsters and set fire to cities left and right- is the one who dares proclaim that is it him. He didn't do anything wrong! Leo has only ever aimed for helping people, for the greater good...for the...for...

"What? You don't believe me? Tell me, was it not you who abandoned your own wife and son? You, who used an entire school to create an army of child soldiers. You, who invaded the Xyz dimension and had your students hunt down innocent people like they were wild hen. You who had thousands of lives sacrificed for the so-called 'greater good' whilst your soldiers wore smiles on their faces as they singled them out, you who orchestrated a psychopath to brainwash anyone who didn't follow you like a disciplined pet, you who were willing to have an innocent boy killed because he simply had my face, you who kidnapped and sacrificed four young girls because they just happened to look like you 'precious' daughter."

Zarc nearly spits the last words, and a feeling akin to a cold wet blanket settles over his shoulders. It wasn't like that! The dimensions were broken apart, they needed to put back together. Things were fractured, Ray was gone. He never meant to cause a war, but sacrifices had to be made they. They had to...

Zarc's voice breaks him out of his lament, "Though, I should thank you, really. After all, if it weren't for your said plans, I would have never been able to revive if you hadn't gotten those little wretches out of my way.

"That was never my intention!" Leo tries to snap. He hates the way his voice cracks. He puts a hand to his head, "I...I only wanted my daughter back...I-I only wanted to be the way things should be..."

"The way things should be, or the way you wanted them to be?" Zarc asks, "What did you think was going to happen, Akaba? You invade the dimensions, kill my reincarnations, take Ray's fragments and everything is all Smile World from there? Was it not _you_ who trained my fusion fragment to be a merciless duelist, to card anyone who gets in the way of Academia's goal, to be the one to obtain your little girls in the first place?

"You kept Yuri and Serena separate, Leo. You took the girls away from the other boys and let them follow across dimensions. You broke the seal, and now my prison is no longer. Ray sacrificed her life to split the dimensions and keep me hidden away, and for what? So her father could undo it all because he wanted her back. You thought you could beat a god and dove in with no regard to other's lives like any other foolish mortal. All of this- the war, the distortion of Arc Five, me- this is all _your_ fault."

Leo looks away- in shame? In anger? He doesn't know himself- as Zarc's words weigh on him. He hears Reiji's words echo in his mind:

 _If Arc Five is not created, and the dimensions remain unfused, Zarc won't be able to revive! YOU'RE the one who is helping Zarc revive by carrying out your selfish goal!_

He once told Reiji that it was futile- Zarc would reincarnate by his own will. He was once so sure that he was doing the right thing- and he said so; Reiji didn't know any better, he didn't see the destruction that ravaged their reality once. He was just a child angry at his father's leave who was too influenced by the demon to find sense.

Yet, as Zarc prattles on, Leo begins to doubt if he even knows what the right thing is anymore.

Zarc growls, clearly disinterested in the pitiful, weak man in front of him. "I grow tired of this rambling," he says, "If all you're going to do is mope, I'd rather use my time on other things?"

He puts his arm out, his duel disk whirring to life; the yellow green hologram of the card zone grows larger on one hand, distorting in the form of a hand itself. Leo lurches back in self defense as Zarc grins down at him.

"How about a little duel? Something to spice up the atmosphere a little?"

Leo's heart drops into his gut. There's no way he can beat Zarc. Not without the cards, not without Ray (dammit, where the hell is she?! Why isn't she here?!). His duel disk is broken. His deck is a mess. He's a sitting duck right on the spot.

"What is is that your students called it when they looked for Xyz duelists? A 'hunting game'?" Zarc questions.

He draws a card and immediately special summons a monster. Leo backs up in fear as peals of light shine down from the heavens, a form of a gigantic red dragon coming forth from them; its heterochromatic eyes glare down at him like it wants to cut him in half. Zarc, however, is unaffected. Rather, he actually goes up to the dragon, putting one arm under its chin and rubbing the side of its face affectionately like its a pet of his. His yellow eyes are glowing, his intent clear.

"Well then, Akaba Leo, you better start running. Because now, you're part of _my_ hunting game."

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